Wonder and Magic
by Mr. E Stranger
Summary: A brother trying to redeem his past doesn't know what happened, but he has a slight idea of where he is. What will he do in a world he knows hardly anything about?


"I don't know why we didn't come here years ago," she exclaims with a broad smile as she looks around the room with great interest. I grunt noncommittally in response.

My younger sister, the fanatic and self proclaimed authority on all things Harry Potter is finally getting her wish granted, she is visiting the very castle the films were set in. My own interest extends only so far. I haven't read the books and I only saw a couple of the first movies.

"This is where Harry slept!" she says excited as she tugs on my hand to take a closer look.

I can't help but grin at her enthusiasm, it felt good for her to finally look this happy again. "I don't know, it didn't look like he slept very much to me." I say in an attempt to sound involved, "I recall at one point in the first movie Harry stroking his owl and looking forlornly out into the night."

"Good memory, bro!" she compliments and I smirk, "But I'm pretty sure he did sleep too, he had a lot of nightmares you know." she looks at me pointedly. My smirk vanishes for a moment and I wonder if she is deliberately referring to my own sleeping problems.

"He had a rough time though, didn't he?" I question her and she nods and spins around again, skipping a little as she rushes out towards the exit, but not leaving before she turns back.

"Come on, there's loads more to see!" she exclaims.

It was fun but I reached my limit way before she did. I got pretty bored after a while, even with her constant witty commentary about almost every small detail. I wonder how she remembers all these things.

* * *

It was already dark outside and she had fallen asleep on the train, with her head resting on my shoulder.

"Hey," I say in a whisper in to her ear, but I get no response. She really sleeps heavily, and I envy that a little. "Hey Sarah wake up," I say in my normal voice this time, with a small shrug of my shoulder.

"Mmm, are we there yet?" she asks groggily, yawning and stretching her neck before she turns to look out the window.

"We're there in about 5 minutes." I show her my watch as she looks back to me.

"Oh good." her head falls to my shoulder again and I let out a small chuckle.

I look at her and her eyes are closed again but she has a smile on her lips. "Thanks bro."

"For what?" I feel like I want her to be specific.

"For everything," her eyes are still closed, "I know you were probably pretty bored after a while back there."

"No it was pretty fun." I confess, though only realising it just then that I did find it fun.

She has opened her eyes and is sitting up now, looking at me with such a sincere smile it makes me falter a little.

"You've been a really great brother recently, I really appreciate it, I'm even going to tell Mum how great you've been today." I smirk at this, she knows how to win points with me.

"Dad should have taken you ages ago." her smile vanishes and I hold up my hands, "I mean, I know he can't anymore, and that's not the only reason I took you."

"It's ok." she turns away to look outside the window and I see her frown in the reflection.

"Sorry." I shouldn't have mentioned Dad.

"I miss him." she turns back to me with wet eyes and I feel my heart ache slightly.

"Me too." I look to my hands and remember my Dad's smiling face when he would look at Sarah. I remember how I would be slightly jealous of 'daddy's little girl' when we were younger and how those thoughts made me distance myself.

There is an announcement to say we're nearly at our stop and I stand up and pull out our bags from above us.

"Come on sis, let's go." I look back, and her eyes are dry again. I take her offered hand and pull her up, letting it drop as I move on to the carriage doors.

* * *

Sarah opens the front door and shouts into the house "We're home!"

I close the door before we pause momentarily to take our shoes off before venturing further.

My mother appears at the top of the stairs and I see her wide smile as she sees Sarah and me. "Welcome home!" she calls down to us.

Sarah grins and they hug as they meet at the bottom of the stairs. "How was it, did you have fun?"

She walks over to me and hugs me too.

"It was brilliant!" Sarah spins around in place and my mother laughs gently. "Andy was the perfect big brother today" and I smile looking at her fondly.

My mother looks back and forth between us, a slight surprised look to her face before settling again with a smile "Wonderful! I want to hear everything, I'll get us some drinks and you rest your feet."

"OK." Sarah nods and grins before slumping onto a comfortable sofa in the living room.

I grin and look forward to that as my mother whispers into my ear "Looks like you did a good job."

"It was fun," I reply and smile sincerely, "I learned a lot."

She laughs at that because she knows how Sarah doesn't stop talking about the Harry Potter universe when she begins, with only sleep indicating her limit being reached.

"Oh I bet it was super fun." and she elbows me slightly as if we're sharing a secret.

I chuckle slightly "I actually surprisingly enjoyed it. To the limit of any normal person I mean."

She looks at me for a moment as if judging my sincerity and smiles again. "Good."

* * *

"Good night Sarah. Good night Mum." I am the first to leave the living room, even though it's already past 11 PM. They return my words and I make my way to my room.

My room is pretty big, compared to my sister's and the few friends' rooms I've seen. It's pretty tidy too I think, though Mum always says I need to clean it.

After brushing my teeth and stripping to my boxer shorts I turn off the light and close my bedroom door, I can still hear them chatting a little downstairs. Well, I should say I can hear Sarah talking and Mum occasionally exclaiming surprise and interest.

I smile and lie down, my head hitting my pillow and I start to think. I think about Harry Potter, though I never read the books I feel like I know everything about him and his adventures, thanks to Sarah.

I wonder what it would be like to live in a world with magic, and how different things would be for us. I wonder if I had magic then maybe Dad wouldn't have... I stop that train of thought as quickly as I can.

I wonder if tonight I will finally get a good night sleep.

I turn around in my bed feeling uncomfortable but after a while of tossing and turning eventually sleep takes me. Dreams of Witches and Wizards, wonder and magic fill my mind.

* * *

It's been 3 weeks since our visit to the castle and Sarah has managed to convince Mum and me to take a tourist trip down to London. In her words we are there to go sight seeing, but I know her real motive is to get her photo taken at Harry Potter's platform in King's Cross train station. I don't really mind, I didn't have anything else planned and I think this would be a good way for me to be a better brother.

We've been to see Big Ben, The Tower of London and The London Eye already and it's late now. We really do need to head back home soon.

"It's getting quite late, we should probably get heading home", I try not to smirk when I see the look of shock then worry on Sarah's face.

"Um..." Sarah begins, "do you think we could visit Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?" she turns to Mum with hopeful bright eyes.

Mum laughs and puts a thoughtful look on her face as she asks "Where's that?"

"It's at King's Cross train station, it's not very far from here." The look of plea on her face is cute.

"I don't know if we have time." Mum looks at me and winks without Sarah noticing.

"Sarah, we need to go home." I say with feigned sternness.

Sarah gasps and the truth is spilled, "This was the whole reason I wanted to come to London!" her face is going a little red. I can't help but chuckle a little.

"We're only kidding Sarah, of course we can go." With a grin Mum soothes her easily and the bright smile returns to my little sister's face.

We make our way to King's Cross and it's surprising how fast you can get anywhere using the London Underground. I can see what is labelled as Platform Nine and Three-Quarters near the entrance of the station. There's a memorial for the platform entrance with a trolley stuck half way into the wall.

We wait our turn for a couple of other enthusiasts to take their pictures and Sarah squeals in glee as she puts her hand on the trolley.

"Please take my picture Mum!" She is posed as if she's rushing forwards, and she's even wearing one of those scarfs from the movies.

"OK that looked good." Mum's thumbs up shows her approval and she shows the picture to Sarah. When they've finished reviewing the photo, Sarah demands I pose for my own picture and wraps her scarf around my neck.

I sigh exaggeratedly but I am smiling at her as she finishes looping it. "OK, quick photo Mum then we need to leave." Mum nods and I turn to the trolley and put my hands on it. I'm clearly not doing good enough as Sarah then instructs me how to act like I'm pushing it through the wall whilst running.

"OK fine, here we go then." I smirk and take a couple of steps back. "This will be an action shot!" I take a few more steps back.

I grin at my Mum and Sarah briefly before I put on a mask of concentration. I run forwards and slam my hands on to the handles and then I'm falling to the floor.

* * *

My first thought is to wonder how I fell forwards when there was a solid wall in front of me. Luckily my hands broke my fall and I don't seem to have any injuries.

I sit up, "That was weird," I turn around to where Sarah and Mum are standing.

There's no reply. There's no one there. It's a solid brick wall. There's no way I came through there.

Immediately my heart skips a beat then works twice as hard to recover. I scramble to my feet and take a cautionary step back. "Wh-" I manage.

I turn around again and I see a large area, completely void of people.

OK, this obviously isn't normal. Mum and Sarah are going to be worried. I should use my phone to contact them. I put my hand into my pocket but it isn't there. "Shit," I say quietly. Where hell has my phone gone? I check my other pocket and my wallet is gone too. "Shit," again. Was I mugged? Are Mum and Sarah alright? I can't help but feel worried about them. "Shit shit shit".

I notice I'm breathing quickly and try to force myself to calm down using slow deliberate breaths and then I think. Belatedly I realise I haven't even considered the possibility that this was a dream, so I pinch myself to make sure. That hurt. Damn it.

"Think" I whisper to myself. I take a few moments to collect myself and make a decision. I need to figure out where I am and how to find my family.

It's dark in here but there are a few sources of light emanating form the other side of the platform. I can't see any other way to go. I slowly make my way towards the light, and I notice the train tracks for the first time. I stop and look around, squinting a little in the darkness and I see it above me, the first sign of where I actually am. The sign reads "9 3/4".

After a pause to let my brain overcome the first bout of denial I read "Nine and three quarters" out aloud. The denial sets in again and I laugh despite myself, "There's no way."

I decide that staring at a clearly stupid sign is useless and revert back to my previous mission. I walk faster this time, towards the main source of light which I realise is shining through a fogged glass window. The window has the words "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters" cut out. I look away and stare at the door as I make my way closer.

At the door I knock though I'd rather just open it and I hear a man make a clearly surprised sound from inside. I take a worried step back in case this is the one that brought me here, though I don't know what else to do.

"Who the bloody hell is out there?" I hear a clearly old male voice. He didn't bring me here?

The door opens and there is a man carrying a torch. That's a funny looking torch I think immediately. He looks to me to be in his seventies at least, and he is wearing strange clothes. Inwardly I shrug because I've seen many old people wear odd clothing.

"Excuse me," I manage. His eyes are wide in shock for a moment before he scowls.

"How did you get here? You lot shouldn't be here yet. Where are your parents?" There's no pause for for me to answer before he is carrying on, "How did you manage to get out here anyway? I told them those wards would fail eventually but do they think to check?"

"Excuse me," I try again, and this time he seems to give me a moment to carry on.

"I don't know how I got here," I start before stopping myself from saying "or even where here is" because I didn't feel like that would be very beneficial to me for some reason.

"What do you mean you don't know how you got here?" he mocks, "You must have been messing around on the Muggle side and come through here. You teens are always causing problems for people."

Muggle side? What does that mean? I feel a coldness sweep over my body as the truth of the situation can't be denied reasonably much longer.

"Right," I say quickly, trying to come up with some sort of plan. "I should just go back through then."

He stares at me for a moment and squints as if I'm being an idiot. "Yeah you should. Come on let's take you back."

As we're walking, I glance at a tag on his chest and learn his name is Bert. "Sorry about this Bert," I try.

Bert grumbles for a moment and then sighs, "Just don't do this again alright kid. It's a pain in my arse and everyone else's too."

I nod solemnly, "Sorry."

We reach the spot I remember from earlier and Bert tells me to go on through. I look to him uncertainly for a moment and suddenly I remember from the first film the Weasley mother said to do it with 'a bit of a run'. I feel a bit stupid but willing to take my chances and rush forwards towards the wall.

That was stupid. That really hurts. I'm on the floor again nursing my forehead. It feels like it's bleeding.

"Bloody hell that didn't look good, are you alright?" Bert sounds genuinely concerned. I decide he isn't a bad man.

"That really hurt," I say intelligently, "I guess it's closed?"

Bert turns away from me and runs his hand along the wall and grumbles again. "It's definitely closed," he concludes. "How did you get through here then?" He looks at me with a hint of confusion.

"I don't know," I say again and shrug at him when he clearly looks disbelieving.

"OK well this isn't going to work," he offers his hand and pulls me up easily. "Let's try the Floo."

Another memory is triggered but this time it's of Sarah talking on and on about magical transportation and her jealousy for not being able to use it. She mentioned the Floo and explained to me about fireplaces being connected together by magic.

We make it over to the Floo and stop before it. It's a huge fireplace and it lights up as we arrive. Bert looks at me expectantly.

"I... My home isn't connected." I stumble, trying to sound like I know what I talk about. I begin to wonder for a moment why I haven't told the truth about what happened.

"Right. Leaky Cauldron then? Or you might want to go to St. Mungo's for that," he nods to me, with his eyes are focused on my forehead.

"It's not that bad, I'm not bleeding." I reply. "I should probably go to the Leaky Cauldron," I'm glad I had heard him correctly, confirmed by another nod of his head.

"Right you are. And don't you mess around here any more." He has remembered his annoyance from before.

"Sorry," I say again. Now I pause, and I try to think as quickly as I can about how this thing works. My eyes dart around for clues and land on a bucket of glittery, silver powder by the side of the fireplace. I take a handful. I pause for a moment and realise the absurdity of what I'm about to do.

"Go on then." Bert encourages when I don't move.

"R-right." I move forward and throw the powder into the flames. The flames turn a wicked emerald green and I'm mesmerised. I shake my head to force myself to take step closer to the fire. It's not hot any more.

Another step and it's still not hot. I have to try, I can't be stuck here with Bert.

"Say the name first kid. That knock to your head must be worse than you think." Bert has a little mirth in his eyes as I look at him.

"Leaky Cauldron" I say before I nod to Bert and step into the flames.

* * *

Stepping into the fire resulted in the wildest roller coaster ride of my life. Fireplaces flew by so quickly that they were nothing more recognisable than multicoloured blurs. In the short time it takes to travel I feel a rush of emotions sweep over me. Fear of the fire, and fear of the unknown. Wonder that the magic exists. Terror that magic exists. Shock that I decided to go through with it and excitement probably caused by adrenaline.

I tumble out of the other end in what is hopefully the Leaky Cauldron. I'm on the floor again and I can't help but notice I'm developing a habit. As I slowly pick myself up I try to be as inconspicuous as possible. The flames have died out so I hope I can sneak out.

"You alright there lad?" a man's voice. So much for stealth tactics. I must have made a louder noise than I thought.

"I'm fine thanks." I look up from the floor to the owner of the voice and see a tall bald man behind a bar, leaning forwards towards me to get a better look.

"Not many people take a tumble like that." he remarks, and I hear a murmur of agreement.

I look around for the first time and notice that we're not actually the only two people here after all. In fact, there are quite a few patrons in attendance, most of which are watching me. I feel a flush of embarrassment at the attention so I stand and dust myself off hoping I don't seem completely abnormal as I walk over to the man that spoke.

"Excuse me, could you tell me the time?" I ask feeling the need to get some sort of bearing of how long I was on the floor for earlier. It occurs to me then that I didn't ask Bert for the time earlier, but then I hadn't really been thinking clearly.

"Sure," and he reads his pocket watch out loud, "Half past eight, or there abouts."

"Thank you, uh..." I look at him expectantly, hoping he understands my cue.

"Tom. My name is Tom." he smiles at me and then raises his eyebrows, "Do you want a drink?"

I stop myself from giving my own introduction and think about his question. I'm thirsty but I have no money. I also feel like I'm trusting people too easily and I don't like how helpless I'm being.

"Well?" he prompts me and I realise I haven't replied to his question.

"For free?" I ask with a smile and he laughs loudly. I hear a few chuckles from behind me and realise that our conversation isn't as private as I had hoped.

"No, not for free. But what I can do is sell you Butterbeer for a single Sickle since you made me laugh." he smiles toothily at me.

Presumably that's a discount but I don't even know what a Sickle is. Magical currency I guess. When did I accept this as magical? What does that equal in real money? I don't even have any money anyway.

"I don't have any money." I try to lean in and whisper this time.

"Here Tom, I'll buy him that drink." I hear a woman call from behind. I turn around to find out who spoke.

I'm greeted by the sight of a pretty young woman. Not much older than me, I think. I watch her and turn back towards the bar as she hands over a small silver coin.

"Right you are Tonks." Tom replies as he takes the money and pours the drink.

"Thanks, I appreciate that." I tell her.

"No worries kiddo, enjoy that drink!" she tells me cheerily.

Kiddo? That's a bit much. I'm not that much younger than her surely. I notice we're looking each other in the eye and remark to myself how tall she must be.

I watch her as she walks back over to her table and sits down with her smiling friends and a cog starts to turn in my head. She doesn't look that tall when there are objects around to compare her to.

"Tom, where's the men's toilets please?" I ask trying to keep calm.

"Just round that corner." he points to my right.

"Thanks." I nod and leave the drink on bar for now, I make my way as normally as possible towards the toilets hoping to alleviate this new suspicion.

I push the door open to the toilet and sigh with relief that it's empty. I spot the object I'm looking for and it's on the side of the wall above the sinks facing inwards. I walk up to the mirror and look at myself.

"No way. This isn't possible." I say out loud. I test my reflection, poking myself in the cheek and making silly movements with my face.

I lean my hands on the sink in front of me and peer more closely.

"About 14 maybe..." I finally conclude after a few more minutes of silent inspection. I almost can't believe how calm I am being about this. Is this how normal humans react to massive changes in their reality?

No wonder she seemed so tall. She wasn't tall at all. She was just the same height as my younger self. I think about 5 foot 6 inches. Idly I wonder how my amazing the brain works when I was able to use that subtle detail to form a suspicion.

"What the hell am I doing here anyway?" I whisper out loud again. I wince and hope no one heard that. I need to keep these things inside. I need to find Mum and Sarah. I need to let them know I'm alright and to make sure they're alright too.

I take a moment to wash my face with cold water and collect myself. I'll deal with this absurdity later. I realise I'm trying to distract myself somewhat but I'm also genuinely trying to prioritise.

Tom said it was about 8:30 PM and that was about 15 minutes ago. I think it could be possible that Mum and Sarah are home, though they might have gone to the police too. I need to contact them.

Walking back out into the bar area, I attract much less attention on my entrance this time around. Nothing more than a few quick glances. I walk up to the bar and take a swig of the drink that I left there. It's good and warm, and I can definitely taste butterscotch.

"Excuse me Tom." I try to attract his attention as his back is turned.

He turns around and he surveys me before replying "Alright lad?"

I smile and nod, "I was just wondering if you had a phone I could use." The desire to make contact as soon as I can is pressing on my mind.

Tom squints at me for a moment and I wonder if I have asked something stupid, "Not in here but there's one of those public ones out on the Muggle side." he inclines his head to the left this time where I see quite obviously the front door to the establishment.

"Right. Thanks." I nod my thanks and hurry as normally as I can towards to the door.

"Bye bye!" I hear her voice again and I see her waving as I look over. I wave and force a smile before I make my way through the door.

* * *

Once the door closes behind me I let out a heavy sigh I didn't know I'd been holding. I look around and notice it's already dark .The Leaky Cauldron is situated between a bookshop and a record store. I try to remember the names and the features in case I need to find this place again.

Unable to spot a phone when I look in both directions I decide to head left; it seems to be lit up more and I can hear the occasional hum of traffic. I turn a corner and it's there: an unoccupied red phone box. Sliding the door open and squeezing in I take the receiver and put it to my ear. My index finger moves towards the number pad and I pause.

"No money." I whisper to myself, and just at that moment my adrenaline must have worn off because I suddenly feel a throb of pain from where I hit my head before. I hiss in pain and close my eyes, bringing up my free hand to sooth the pain.

I lean against the side of the phone box and groan, "I guess I hurt myself worse than I thought." I shake my head and try to focus on my task.

There's a beeping sound coming from the receiver so I reset it and pull it back to my ear. I think for a moment and wonder how I can make any calls without having any money. Wasn't there a way to reverse the charges? I try to remember how to do it but give up after a short while. Instead, I dial the only free number I can remember and it is answered immediately.

A hard female voice with a no nonsense tone. "Which emergency service do you require?"

"I... uh, sorry," I fumble, "I have no money and I need to make a phone call to someone. I'm at a phone box."

"This isn't an emergency." I wince slightly at her tone.

"I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do."

"Dial 100 before the phone number and it will reverse the charge. OK?"

"OK thanks so much."

There's a click and the call ends without a good bye. I ignore it and reset the receiver again.

I dial 100 then my house phone number. It rings a few times and my chest clenches in anticipation. "Hello?" a man has answered the call. I feel like I recognise his voice. I feel the colour drain from my face and suddenly the implication of who this could be hits me.

It's feels like minutes pass before I reply. "H-hello, is that David?" I use my fathers first name.

There's a short pause. "No I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number." my heart sinks but I swallow my sadness quickly.

"Oh sorry. Um, is Julie there?" I try Mum's name this time. I don't know what to expect this time. Maybe this is some kind of alternate dimension.

The man hums before he replies this time. "No Julie either. Who is this?"

I decide he doesn't need to know my name. "Sorry forget about it. Bye." I'll try again, maybe I did actually dial the wrong number.

"Right. Goodbye."

I put the phone down and take a deep breath, my hand is shaking and I try to forget that feeling of hope I had. I take a minute to calm myself.

Once again I put the phone to my ear and dial 100 then my house phone number.

"Hello?" It's the same voice as before and I frown.

"Sorry, I think I've got the wrong number again." I close my eyes in defeat.

"Oh, no problem. Bye." he doesn't sound annoyed thankfully.

An idea strikes, "What's the date today?" I blurt out suddenly.

"It's the tenth of August." Asking the date isn't really that unusual. I'm sure I've forgotten the date more times than days I've lived.

"And the year?" I press on. This isn't as usual.

"The year?"

"Yes. Please." I notice a pleading tone in my voice and it annoys me a little.

"It's 1994. Look, are you alright?" There's clearly a confused tone to his voice.

"The day?"

"Well, it's Sunday. Are you messing with me?" I remember I've reversed the call charges.

"No, I'm not messing. Sorry. Thanks very much. Good night. I won't call again."

"Good night then."

I shakily put the phone back and reel back against the glass side at what I was just told. It's 1994. That's 19 years ago. The year I was born.


End file.
